No products in the cart.
By Deborah Gray-Young, PCC · Executive & Leadership Coach · dgrayyoung.com
There is a particular kind of discomfort that experienced professionals carry into conversations about their career transition. You can hear it in the language.
“I know it probably seems strange that I’m leaving after all this time.”
“I’m not entirely sure how to explain this, but I’ve decided to make a change.”
“I’m kind of in between things right now.”
Every one of those statements is an apology dressed up as an explanation. For professionals with 20 years of experience navigating a career transition, that kind of language is not just uncomfortable — it is strategically costly. Because the moment you apologize for your story, you have invited the other person to agree with you that an apology was warranted.
Your career transition is not a confession. Stop telling it like one.
The discomfort is not accidental. After two decades in a field, your professional identity and your career narrative have become deeply intertwined. Stepping outside that narrative — even deliberately, even toward something better — triggers a kind of storytelling crisis.
You know what you have done. You are less certain about how to frame what you are doing now. Additionally, for professionals of color who have spent careers navigating environments where credibility was hard-won and easily questioned, the stakes of that uncertainty feel particularly high.
As Deborah has written for The BOSS Network, how you frame your professional story shapes how others receive your candidacy — in job searches, in networking conversations, and in the informal moments where reputations are made. A transition narrative built on apology positions you as someone in retreat. A transition narrative built on ownership positions you as exactly what you are — an experienced professional making a deliberate strategic move.
The difference between those two framings is not cosmetic. It is everything.
The most effective transition narratives for professionals with 20 years of experience follow a clean, three-part structure. Think of it as a professional story arc — not a justification, but a directional statement.
Part One — Where You Have Been This is your foundation. Not your entire resume, but the essence of what you have built. Two to three sentences that capture the depth and nature of your experience without cataloguing every role. The goal is to establish credibility immediately — so the listener understands they are talking to someone with serious, hard-won professional capital.
Part Two — What Has Shifted This is the bridge. Something has changed — in you, in your field, in what you want your work to mean — and that shift is driving the transition. This is where most professionals get into trouble. They either overshare emotional details that belong in a coaching session rather than a professional conversation, or they say nothing meaningful at all. The goal here is to name the shift briefly and with confidence — not to explain yourself, but to provide honest directional context.
Part Three — Where You Are Going This is the destination. Not a vague gesture toward possibility, but a specific, confident statement about what you are moving toward and why your experience makes you the right person to be moving there. As explored in You Are Not Starting Over — You Are Repositioning, the language of repositioning is directional. It points somewhere. Make sure your story does too.
The three-part structure above is the foundation. Your 60-second experience pitch is how you deliver it in real conversations — without notes, without hesitation, and without apology.
Here is the framework:
“I have spent [X years] in [field/function], where I [specific accomplishment or capability]. Over time, [what has shifted — briefly and confidently]. I am now focused on [specific direction], where I can bring [specific transferable strength] to [specific type of organization or role].”
That is it. Sixty seconds or less. Confident, directional, and built entirely on what you have earned — not on what you are leaving behind.
Practice it until it feels like a natural part of how you introduce yourself — because during a career transition, that is exactly what it needs to be. The YOU 3.0 Career Transition Workbook walks you through building this narrative in Chapter 6, with structured prompts that help you find the language that is authentically yours.
Here is something most career transition advice skips entirely.
How you tell your transition story is not just about job interviews. It is about every professional conversation you have during a transition — with former colleagues, industry contacts, people in your target field, and the extended network that forms impressions of you long before any formal process begins.
This is where political savvy becomes a career transition tool. Politically savvy professionals understand that narrative management is not spin — it is strategic communication. The story you tell about your transition shapes what others say about you when you are not in the room. Control that story deliberately. Lead with your strengths. Frame the shift as the strategic repositioning it actually is. And resist the cultural pressure, particularly strong for professionals of color, to perform humility about a decision that deserves confidence.
Before your next transition conversation, replace these:
Instead of: “I’m kind of exploring options right now” Say: “I’m focused on moving into [specific direction] and having deliberate conversations about where my experience fits best.”
Instead of: “I decided to leave my field after all these years” Say: “After 20 years building [specific capability], I’m repositioning that experience toward [new direction].”
Instead of: “I’m not sure exactly what I want yet” Say: “I’m in the early stages of a deliberate transition and I am being intentional about what I pursue next.”
None of those replacements are dishonest. They are accurate — and they are strategically sound. As covered in Career Transition After 40: What No One Prepares You For, the professionals who navigate transitions most successfully are the ones who manage their narrative with the same discipline they bring to every other strategic decision.
Write your three-part transition story this week. Not a draft — the actual version you will use in real conversations. Test it on someone who will give you honest feedback. Refine it until it sounds like you — confident, grounded, and entirely free of apology.
For direct support in building your transition narrative and full career change strategy, work with Deborah. This is a professional investment in how you show up in every conversation that matters.
Deborah Gray-Young, PCC is a former advertising agency executive and ICF-certified executive coach who advises senior professionals and SMB CEOs. She specializes in helping professionals of color, men and women — navigate career change after 20+ years and lead with greater clarity and intention. Learn more at dgrayyoung.com or explore her executive coaching services.
Related Reading → You Are Not Starting Over — You Are Repositioning → How to Know What Your Experience Is Really Worth in a New Field → Career Transition After 40: What No One Prepares You For → 5 Steps to Becoming Politically Savvy at Work → Who’s Holding Your Ladder? The Support System Every Professional of Color Needs → YOU 3.0 Career Transition Workbook
Sign up to our newsletter
